Faculty Collaboration Database

Respiratory and skeletal muscles in hypogonadal men with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2005 Mar 15;171(6):598-605

Date

12/14/2004

Pubmed ID

15591465

DOI

10.1164/rccm.200412-1643OC

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-14944348629 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   43 Citations

Abstract

Hypogonadism, found in about one-third of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has potential for decreasing muscle mass and muscle performance. Compared with eugonadal patients, we hypothesized that hypogonadal patients with COPD have decreased respiratory and skeletal muscle performance. Nineteen hypogonadal and 20 eugonadal men with COPD (FEV(1) 1.14 +/- 0.08 and 1.17 +/- 0.11 L [standard error], respectively) were studied. Diaphragmatic contractility, assessed as transdiaphragmatic twitch pressure generated by phrenic nerve stimulation, was similar in hypogonadal and eugonadal patients: 20.6 +/- 2.2 and 19.8 +/- 2.5 cm H(2)O, respectively. During progressive inspiratory threshold loading, hypogonadal and eugonadal patients had similar respiratory muscle endurance times (302 +/- 29 and 313 +/- 48 seconds, respectively) and airway pressure sustained during the last minute of loading (38.2 +/- 3.0 and 40.5 +/- 4.7 cm H(2)O, respectively) (similar to predicted values in healthy subjects). Hypogonadal and eugonadal patients had equivalent limb muscle strength and endurance. During cycle exercise to exhaustion, exercise performance, gas exchange, and respiratory muscle recruitment (estimated by esophageal and gastric pressure swings during tidal breathing) were similar in both groups. In conclusion, hypogonadism does not decrease respiratory or limb muscle performance and exercise capacity in men with moderate-to-severe COPD who, for the most part, are not underweight.

Author List

Laghi F, Langbein WE, Antonescu-Turcu A, Jubran A, Bammert C, Tobin MJ

Author

Andreea Antonescu-Turcu MD Associate Dean, Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Aged
Case-Control Studies
Diaphragm
Electric Stimulation
Exercise Test
Exercise Tolerance
Humans
Hypogonadism
Male
Muscle Contraction
Muscle, Skeletal
Phrenic Nerve
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive
Respiratory Muscles